So… I stopped blogging after my South Downs Double ride in April, but the season carried on… This blog was only ever meant for the double attempt, however, I like writing down what I’m doing, so I thought I’d add a few notes whilst I’m reviewing my season and looking forward to next year.
This picture neatly sums up where I left the blog!
Bringing it up to date
After the double I eased off for a few weeks, before heading up to Scotland for a stag do. I mixed this in with a road race nearby the day before and a couple of hard-ish rides. The road race didn’t go that well, but I’d not done much for a few weeks. I made the main split, but then having spent too much energy making attacks early on I was dropped and rolled in to finish at the back.
The stag do was fairly hard going, and I managed to fall on my knee paint-balling (note to self: I am not Rambo). The stress of the race, too much drinking, and being frozen to death in the Cairngorms lead to patella pain and tonsillitis. Not fun!
A week off and I started training again hard in June.
Mid -July I headed away to France on the Paris – Hayling Charity Bike Ride with my wife and her family. It was some of the most enjoyable cycling I’ve done with a great group of people and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a laid back adventure. I also hoped that this would give some time for the knee to rest and heal up, but it didn’t. By the end of the holiday I couldn’t sit with the leg bent for more than minute or so, and could barely go down stairs.
Once home I took a full week off the bike, then tentatively got back on the bike with no change. I called off a few races and repeated this process through August, but the knee was just not getting better and my season had effectively ended in July, although I had the feeling I’d never got fully going on the road bike at all.
Getting the knee back in order
August I started seeing a physio (Yvonne Frampton), who also cycled for PNECC so would understand my sports. I also booked a Retul bike fit with Garth Kruger at Vankru Cycling .
With my new position, and lots of stretching and knee stability exercises I started with short gentle commutes at the end of September and have just continued this process through until now. It’s over four months since I was forced to stop in July, but my knee is almost completely pain free.
I felt like I never hit top form on the road bike though and missed most of the season. What’s most important is I recognized the situation and did something about it, and thankfully it seems to be getting better.
Where now?
Looking back I’m hugely proud of the South Downs Double, and despite the premature end to my road season I picked up the club prize for best Roadman. This was was a nice moral lifter in November and a reminder the year wasn’t a total write off!
I’ve really enjoyed the few TTs I did this year, and of course the South Downs Double time can be improved. I also feel I didn’t represent myself well in road races so would like to address that next year. I’m having a think about all these things and hope to come up with some targets for next year soon.
I’m really not sure where to start with this, it’s only the following day and large portions of the ride are already merging to one and I’m struggling to remember the small details beyond the pain and suffering in the second half. There are so many things that warrant a mention from what was essentially just a really long mountain bike ride!
So, I’ll start with some background. I’ve ridden mountain bikes for a few years now, I live near the South Downs, and I’ve always been inspired by those who have completed the South Downs Double; riding the 100 miles off road trail from Winchester, to Eastbourne, then back. Last year, however, I was involved in a crash whilst road racing, when unfortunately another rider, Richard Phillips-Scholfield lost his life. In the aftermath of the incident I was impressed by the response of the Air Ambulance. I didn’t know Richard beyond seeing him at a few races, but obviously read more about him after the crash. I saw that he was an excellent mountain biker, and that his family had set up donations to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance in his memory. This isn’t fundraising for Richard, and I haven’t asked his family or anything, however, the incident at the track gave me a cause and given Richards mountain bike background it just seemed to mesh well to attempt a South Downs Way Double.
I started training in November, and for five months got in as many long steady rides as possible alongside some racing, all covered in my blog.
Come April it was time to make my attempt, 200 miles, off road, from Winchester, to Eastbourne and back. I contacted Rory Hitchens at Upgrade Bikes, the unofficial guardian of the double to let him know about my planned attempt. Rory was very helpful, and soon had sent round a rallying call through facebook and email to the South Downs mountain bike community.
The South Downs are beautiful, but this day was clear blue skies, and as the sun rose and mist collected in the valleys the views along the ridge were really the best I’ve ever seen. The initial cold soon lifted with the fog and a few hours in I was having a fantastic ride. It still seemed surreal that I was actually ‘doing the double’.
Making good time I checked in to update those following at home and found myself comfortably up on even my fastest schedule by Truleigh Hill Youth Hostel, just northwest of Brighton. All my stops had gone to plan, minimal fuss. I knew however, that the eastern end of the Downs was the hardest, as several rivers cut the valleys right down to sea level, leaving long climbs back up to the ridgeline. Despite being ahead of schedule I was expecting to fall back in line by Eastbourne.
The climb out of Jevington to the Eastbourne golf courses, approaching the turning point, and this was the first time I can remember being slightly irritable. A tell-tale sign of what was to come. My eating had gone to plan, but I was losing my hunger. I got a puncture up that climb, and dismounted to spin my wheel round so the sealant would collect and plug the hole. It took a few attempts, and re-mounting the bike it was starting to feel like a long ride. Normally, the Eastbourne golf courses are a happy place, signifying the end of the ride and I have fond memories of sprinting along the tops to final post marker. But this time there was no fanfare or sense of achievement, just the thought that I had to do it all again.
Winchester: 8 hours 32 minutes
I had a brief sit down at Eastbourne, and ate another bar, but this one really stuck in my throat. It was a different flavour though so I just put it down to not being very nice, but looking back this is the first obvious sign I was losing my appetite.
I set off from Eastbourne just down on my faster estimate, but knowing I still had the reverse of the hilly end to do. I filled a bottle at the church in Jevington, but couldn’t stomach a gel or bar. The real turning point was the tap on the A27 near Lewes. As I stopped I immediately threw up; still 120 km to go.
My heart rate plummeted. I usually happily plod along at 145 beats per minute at a sustainable effort, but I was struggling to get above 120. Every time I checked my average speed it seemed to drop. I was getting past the worst hills now, but couldn’t pick up any speed. Just at this point Phil Saunders, a friend of Rory met me and accompanied me along the tops to just before the decent to Washington and the A24… next stop Amberley – and half way home!
Somewhere between Steyning and Washington I was met by Phil Saunders
The section from Washington to Amberley was the hardest, the sun was setting and I was sick a couple more times. I now hadn’t eaten for six hours and had barely drunk. Any hope of getting near the record had gone and my thoughts revolved around strategies for just finishing and then train stations to home.
I topped up my bottle at Amberley, put on arm warmers and connected the cable for my head torch. Then, just over the bridge I heard a few shouts. Tristan and Emma had parked up to meet me. The original plan was for them to see me at QECP, but as the schedule slipped they’d bumped the meeting point forward. It was a bit of shock them being there, and like anyone who had been on a bike for nearly 15 hours and not eaten for 6, my only reaction was to slump on my bike and cry. I’m sure many of you won’t have done six hours on a bike not eating or drinking (after all, you are sane), or then done it straight off the back of a century MTB ride. But i can tell you, it’s the worst I’ve ever felt. Ever.
Emma asked me if I was stopping. I nodded, stepped off my bike, and sat on the floor. Emma passed me a banana; one bite and it came straight back out.
Pep talk and a bannana
The second bite went down though, hit the bottom of my stomach, and stayed there. Tristan launched in to a motivational speech. I can’t remember the details, but it must have been pretty uplifting as by the end I’d already forgotten my decision to stop, and found myself back on my bike heading out of Amberley.
Arriving in Amberley, broken.
The banana had gone down well. I think the final time I wretched was near Upwaltham. By the time I got to Cocking I was on the up. The heart rate was still low, but the nausea had gone and I was drinking full bottles again. It was fully dark by now. However, there’s something quite exciting about hurtling along with just a narrow tunnel of white light. The banana, the fluid, the adrenaline and knowing that Emma and Tristan would be at regular stops all helped.
Climbing out of Cocking I knew I would make it. I could even see the Spinnaker Tower, lit red; a sure sign home is near.
…until 10 minutes later when it all came crashing down again in a tractor rut, filled with what must have been the only puddle on the South Downs Way that day. I was drenched, it was cold. I still had three hours to go.
QECP: my feet were numb. I stopped briefly to chat to Tim Higgs at the Halls Hill car park before dropping down to the main centre. I climbed in the car for a few moments, wrapped myself in a jacket, and ate a couple of pieces of pizza. I wasn’t in a great place, but my stomach was ok, and from there to Winchester is just thirty kilometers.
It was really getting cold now, but with my heart rate rising I could do more to keep warm. I also found out, (as a result of some bad aiming), that by peeing on my feet I could keep them warm.
At Temple Valley Damon Roberts, a friend from sailing, had come out to meet me, and cheered me along the final climb and descent to Chilcomb. I sprinted through the final streets, over the bridge crossing the M3, and to the city centre. Rounding the last corner and up to the statue. Emma and Tristan were there waiting, accompanied by Martin Pegler from QECP Collective.
I’m not sure what the emotion was of finishing. I know I’ll never forget it. Part relief, part pride, part just dazed and confused!
Touching down at King Alfred Statue, Winchester.A smile of relief and pride!
Gladis…
Before…… and after
Thank you
I’d like to thank everyone who donated to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance. As of writing this the total stands at £1,310, and there’s still time to donate.
Thanks also to everyone posting encouraging comments online, friends, family and the South Downs mountain bike community, galvanized by Rory Hitchens from Upgrade Bikes. Also my dad for updating and posting the schedule so everyone could keep track of my progress. Every time I stopped I’d check my phone and the messages were hugely uplifting.
Support crew Tristan and Emma waiting at Amberley
I also like to thank everyone who came out to meet me on route, Martin Pelger, Phil Saunders, Tim Higgs and Damon Roberts. It makes a massive difference to see friendly face and have a brief break from what is otherwise a lonely challenge. Also big thank you to Tristan Jaques, for giving up his whole evening supporting me, and Emma, as well as giving me the pep talk without which I almost certainly would have stopped.
Finally, thanks to Emma: a hugely supportive wife who has put up with not just the craziness of the challenge on the day, but the past months of long training rides.
So I set out at 5:41 on Saturday. In the days leading up the forecast had been changing. At first it looked dry, with a strong westerly in the morning, dropping off to not much wind in the afternoon, with clear skies… perfect.
At the start: all smiles
Unfortunately as Saturday approached the windy front became increasingly wet and windy. Friday night and predictions varied from a bit of drizzle at 3am and 9am to quite a bit of rain. By this point though I’d got all my gels sorted and psychologically was quite focused on going; so I made the decision I’d at least go through the process. If the forecast was exaggerated I could crack on for the double, and if it it was true, I could bail out and use it as a trial run.
And well the forecast wasn’t an exaggeration! As I set off from Winchester at 5:41 I thought I had got away with it! The drizzle at 3am had obviously been light and the trails were still running quick, although some of the flint was a bit slippy. I made good progress through to QECP, but there had been a false dawn, and no sooner had the sun rose, than it was back behind the clouds. At first it was just drizzle out from QECP to cocking. From cocking to the A285 the weather really closed in, and climbing from Upwaltham it was steady rain and mist. From there to Amberley was miserable and I could hardly see for mud and rain on the descents.
I filled my bottle at Amberley, and thought about turning around, or heading to the train station. By now it was getting on for 10am and all the forecasts had promised sun by now; but still it rained. I wasn’t too cold though, so decided I’d give it to the tap at Steyning / Bolotophs: another 20 km further along. I figured this was close to Brighton, and if it wasn’t sunny by then I could re-evaluate.
The next hour to Steyning was horrible. The climb out of Amberley had streams forming in the gutters of the tracks and I had to seriously hold back on the decent to Washington as it was getting very slippy. I was also now getting very cold. First the feet went, but slowly the hands joined them two, making changing gear and braking more and more difficult.
I got to the tap at Bolotophs / Steyning just before 11am. Although I could now see the break in the clouds behind me there was no doubt in my mind that I had to call it a day. I couldn’t do any of my zips, or get gels, or even handle my bottle; I’d barely ate or drank since Washington and was having to push harder than I would have liked to keep the shivers off.
Decision made: warm shower in Brighton then train home
I made my phone calls, let people know, and arranged a hot shower in Brighton.
As I climbed Devils Dyke the trails were dry; obviously the rain hadn’t made it here and the sun was coming out. It was very bittersweet! If I’d made it to the good weather just an hour sooner I think I would have been fine. Unfortunately, despite riding with the afternoons sunshine in mind, it came too late. I’d already missed out on eating and drinking and so early in a ride this long that’s no situation to be in. I also was thinking about the return leg into the strong headwind, and doubling back on the soaked trails from Washington to Cocking.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. I was absolutely thrilled by all the support shown which has made me more determined than ever to complete the challenge. It was also a really good training run and a good field test of my set up and logistics… all which worked perfectly: except my lack of rain jacket!
Below is a link to the strava activity. I was up on my faster schedule by about 20 minutes, so was going well despite the wet trails and cold. Over 5 hours is a decent training ride too.
Back home and cleaning my bike off I noticed my front pads were almost completely down the back plate. So it seems even if the cold hadn’t got me, the loss of braking soon would have!
Brake pads: new pad on the left, worn pad on the right.
Well… I’m all prepared for tomorrow, i think. The weather was looking fantastic, but there’s now some rain overnight that has crept in to the forecast. However, I’ve made the decision I’m going to give it a go. If I get out on the South Downs Way and it’s claggy then I’ll just treat it as a dress rehearsal. Hopefully it will be fine, and below are my expected timings. Like I’ve said before I’ll try and get the schedule updated on facebook, and I’ll try and post a GPS link there too for the last few hours. But if all technology fails then below should cover it.
Below are some photos of my bike prep… and don’t forget, there is still time to donate!
Side view with gels along the top tubeThe bars, with main light, battery below stem, external battery for garmin in front of stem, the garmin itself, and a small back up light.Tubes and pump taped down lowAll the gear laid out
So, it’s April, and my attempt could be any time from now until the end of May. It really needs to be bone dry though, and not too cold so I can get a good run at it… after all, it’s not the kind of thing you do often, so when you do you want to do it well.
The sheet above are provisional timings for the day. I’ll post an update to that on Facebook and Twitter once I have a day that looks good. I’ll try and get my other half to update and re-post the timings as I progress so people can follow my movements! I’ve also got a phone GPS app to track myself, but it’ll only have battery for the last few hours, and I can only share the link via twitter and facebook, so you’ll have check it out there if you want to see me!
So, finally I have to pick a good time. Now it’s light enough I’ve pretty much got enough battery to cover me through the dark. Part of me just wants to get the whole thing over and done with after all the training. However, the other half of me knows I’ve got to be patient. It would a be a huge shame to blow months of training and preparation on a less than ideal day.
I think for the next few weeks if I do it it will be a early morning start (5-6 am), aiming to finish in the dark. The thinking being I can get a bit of sleep. At the moment it’s not light early enough for a nighttime start (if I started at 11 or 12 I;d run out of battery. However, come may when it’s getting light at 5 ish that may become the preferable option, as it means finishing in the light rather than having to cycle fatigued and in the dark.
Anyway, the weather has been dry yesterday, and today was nicely warm… with a fine forecast this week perhaps Saturday looks like a good shout? I’ll keep you updated.
P.S. I’m still not at my target with fundraising. If you’re thinking of donating now would be excellent! And a massive thank you to the people who have already donated! Myself and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance are hugely grateful!
So after returning from holiday and after a week back on the bike, including a fairly substantial century ride on Sunday, I returning to racing for the James Atherton Memorial Race.
The race was hosted by Southampton Uni Road Club and is a 2/3 road race. I’d done the same race last year and finished outside of the points after attacking on the last climb, but then getting caught by the bunch.
This year the weather was awful. Gale force winds and pretty consistent rain throughout. The circuit is essentially a square, with false flat climb to the finish, then an big dip along the northern side, followed by a false flat decent, then a very lump bottom side. A lot of the backside of the circuit was open to the wind, so not only were the bunch worn down by the constant up and downs but also the cross winds. With very little flat on the circuit it certainly breaks up the bunches rhythm and make organizing any sort of chase relatively difficult, as a result most of the races I’ve done on this circuit have ended with the break taking the win (PNE Road Race, Tour of the Milburys and the James Atherton last year).
I knew it would be a race of attrition given the conditions, and had a good attack on the third lap, however, I was caught by a chase group of three, and then soon the bunch, with the only result that a few more riders had been dropped off the back. I sat in for a little while to compose myself, and much in the similar way to the PNE race last year that’s when the successful break went!
To their credit the two guys who got away must have worked well, especially in those conditions. The gap extended to two minutes before a chase was semi organised and we got back to just over a minute, but with a lap to go it was clear the winner was up the road. The bunch eased off and the gap went back out, all the chase really did was whittle the pack down which was no barely thirty riders (from the 60+ starters).
Along the lumpy bottom section I found myself off the front with three other riders, in hindsight this was a bit of a bad move as we were easily brought back and it certainly killed my legs for the sprint.
I tucked in to the remminents of the group for the final climb. I didn’t really have the legs to sprint, but passed a few riders on the run in to finish 13th and pick up a few race points.
Really, I kind of hoped to be higher up in a 2/3 race. But given the conditions getting a finish a few points is a decent day out.
This will probably be my last race now as we enter April and I look to carry out my main objective, the South Downs Double… more to follow on possible attempts!
I don’t often ask for sponsorship, in fact, I’ve never asked for sponsorship: for anything. It’s not because I don’t believe in charity, I always donate what I can afford, but doubted my ability to do anything that could inspire others. I’ve often thought that most charitable cause should be state funded anyway, and persuading individuals to donate was a drop in the ocean compared to the good that tax from large corporations or the general population could do.
However, with more thought I do think charity plays a really important role in society, it allows us to pay directly toward a cause we feel strongly about, kind of like tax, but you get to put it exactly where you think it should go; and as a result it feels enormously better. However, not everyone is made of money, and we all only have so much we can afford to give, which kind of makes me feel a little awkward about asking others to donate to my chosen charity.
Really, when it comes down to it, I think one of two things have to be in play if anyone is to persuade others to donate money toward a charity they feel passionate about.
Firstly, they need undertake to do something that is so noteworthy that it inspires other to join their cause. Unfortunately, what’s noteworthy, inspiring, or will take dedication and motivation for one person can be run of the mill to others.
Secondly, you can provide a service which people pay for, and by putting the proceeds to charity, your basically giving your own time to charity. Like a cake sale… fundraisers give up time, expertise and money for ingredients to make cakes, donors buy cakes and not only receive the warm fuzzy feeling of goodness that comes from charity, but also the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from scoffing cakes!
Ok… so where is he going with this?
Well, with this South Downs Way Double attempt, and blog, I’m hoping to achieve both of the above. The SDW is going to take incredible commitment from me to train for, and suffering on the day to complete. If successful it will be an exceptional feat by most people’s standards, and hopefully this alone will be enough to inspire you to join my cause.
However, for those of you who aren’t impressed, and I can understand some won’t be (I’ll admit it…sometimes I am guilty of questioning the ‘inspiration factor’ of sponsored walks or swims when I think the participant can achieve with little effort), then I offer you this blog as a service. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy reading about my training, learning about the route and the ride or maybe you just find my writing amusingly bizarre. Either way, if you’ve enjoyed this even a tincy little bit, I’d urge you to donate to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.
If you aren’t at all impressed with my challenge, and you don’t like the blog, and don’t intend to donate… then well, I’m surprised you’ve made it this far through, but you’re basically the equivalent of the guy at work who pinches cakes from the charity sale, doesn’t donate, then declares he didn’t like them anyway. Shame on you cake thief!
Why my cause?
Hopefully the above will have guilted you in to donating, but if not, I’d like to share with you my personal reason for wanting to support the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.
Last year, whilst racing I was involved in a crash. It was all of a bit of blur, I was flung through the air but landed squarely on my arse and feet (with a small dent to the helmet on the way). I immediately stood up and to all intents and purposes I was fine. Unfortunately, other riders were not. In particular a Richard Phillips-Scholfield was very badly injured. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance were quickly on the scene and transported Richard to hospital. Tragically, Richard died later in hospital of his injuries.
I didn’t know Richard, well, I kind of recognised him from local racing, but nothing more than that. From all I’ve read since he seemed like a really fantastic guy. I’m not doing this in his name, I haven’t contacted his family and I’m not a close friend. However, the accident did affect me. Firstly, my fiancé, now wife, and both my parents and a few friend were all there watching, horrified. Yet, everyone seemed impressed with the response of the emergency services and took some comfort in knowing that should the worst happen there would always be that service available.
Ignorantly, I had always assumed that the air ambulance was publicly funded, and obviously following the accident and reading it to it further I became aware that this is far from the truth. Obviously, there are things we can all do to be safer, but sometimes accidents do happen, and I like having the peace of mind that whilst the H&IoWAA won’t always be able to save the day, they can give those who need help the best possible chance. If you ride a bike, I’m sure you’ll agree. If you don’t, I’m sure you can think of circumstance where you might need their help.
Below is a link to my just giving page. Don’t steal cake… donate to a great cause.
So, I have a GPS computer, a Gamrin 500 to be precise. It’s great, and very rarely lets me down. And, the double being a pretty major achievement I’ll want to document it. The trouble is, my garmin lasts 16-18 hours from full charge, and maybe less if I’m using the backlight during the darkness hours. The astute amongst you will see the immediate problem, there is a good chance my garmin battery won’t last as long as my ride!
So what are my options? I’ve considered a few, and looked on a few long distance cycling forums to get some answers. Firstly, I could borrow a second gps bike computer. This option is cheap, however, it means I wouldn’t be able to have a running total of time and average heart rate and speed for pacing toward the end of the ride, which will be pretty nice to have.
The second option is to get an external battery which will charge my garmin as I cycle. There are a few options on the market but it soon became apparent that the 500 models needs a specific type to allow it to charge and record at the same time, so I got a gomadic charger. It’s basically a four pack of AA batteries and a USB lead that I can fix below my bars. It’s not too heavy, and I can charge my mobile too from it. It cost about £19, which is maybe a little steep for what is a one off ride… but hey.
Lights
I’ve used powerful lights for MTBing in the dark for years now and I’ve always bought them direct from China for quite cheap. These lights though are not super reliable, but I’ve always worked on the principle that it’s easier to engineer redundancy than reliability. As a result I always cycle with two lights, then if one fails I’m not plunged into instant and very dangerous darkness. So, I plan on doing the same for my SDW attempt. I figure the longer times I would do is around 20 hours, which in April means X dark hours… On full power I get about two hours out of my lights, so I’m going to have to carry a spare battery, and switch to low power, or completely off for the climbs (hopefully it’s a clear night which full moon!).
The Chinese lights I have all have separate battery packs, which is a bit annoying, as they can be a pain to carry. In an ideal world I’d run lights with integral batteries… but decent lights like this are quite expensive, so I’ll make do with what I have.
Spares & Tools
Spare and tools; this is a difficult one. You can always think of more tools to carry, and more and more increasingly unlikely, but still possible situation in which they could be required. However, I think prevention is better than cure, and a well maintained bike shouldn’t just fail. I’ll strip down and re-build with new cables, chain and cassette before the attempt, which a couple of short rides to let it all bed in before. On the actual ride I plan to carry a pretty minimal amount of spares, basically a small multi-tool, two tubes, and a pump. I’ll carry a some little patches too, but really, if it comes to using them then it’s game over anyway (although after my double puncture on a recent training ride…).
I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to carry these tools yet… previously I’ve taped the tubes and pump to the frame. This also means you’ve got a bit of duct tape in case of a tyre split too. MTB tubes are a bit of a tight fit in my saddle bag, so I’ll only use that to carry food or drink powder.
Today was potentially my final FTP test, if you don’t know about FTP testing (functional threshold power) I’ve got a blog linked here. I’m away for a week from tomorrow and won’t be able to do any training, but hopefully this will provide me with a good rest before getting stuck into my last block of training which will take me right in to April, and hopefully an attempt on the South Downs Way Double as soon as we get a good run of dry weather. So yay! No more horrible vomit inducing FTP tests!
So what’s my training been like so far?
Well, I monitor my training load with Strava using the fitness and freshness tool. It basically takes your training data, and from the heart rate and power data works out the training load of each activity. Then based upon some calculation for how stress accumulates in your body it can tell you fitness (long term stress) and freshness (short term stress). The aim is to slowly increase long term fitness without getting too fatigued. Then, when an event is coming up, you dial back your training which reduces short term stress and improves your form.
The top plot is my fitness level (long term stress) since I started seriously cycling in autumn 2012. As you can see I’m currently at a good peak. In the plot below it’s the same data but just zoomed in on the last six months. You can see the dip in my fitness leading up to and following my wedding, and you can see my build of fitness (from 45 on the 8th of November, to 87 today).
So how do you accumulate this stress? Well, since starting training in mid-November I’ve logged 242 hours on the bike covering 6,885.5 km. That’s an average of two hours a day.
All in all I’m pretty pleased with my fitness gains. As you can see from the fitness and freshness charts I’ve managed to keep a consistent load of stress which I haven’t been able to achieve for the last year or so, despite doing quite a bit of riding. I really feel that this have seen a genuine increase in performance and I can see these results in my power tests. I’ve gone from being at a standard expected of a good 2nd Cat rider to that of an average elite rider.
It was big weekend of training just gone: with no other commitments I tried to make sure I’d get out for as long as possible on the bike(s).
It had been dry all week, and with the forecast for Saturday fine a perfect opportunity to get out for a long ride on the MTB (Gladis). I’d planned the route as a bit of a mash up from when I and two friends, Phil and Tris, had tried and failed to ride the South Downs way last March in awful conditions. The escape route we used to bail out was actually pretty good, so I intended to use this, head west along the SDW to QECP park, then head home… I had planned that anyway.
With a fair few bananas stashed in my pockets I set off. You can see from the photos it was a beautiful day. As well as the SDW the South Downs has some great riding and all was going well as I sped past Kingley Vale, Goodwood, Upwaltham (where I got married) and back past Cocking and Harting Down.
Great views of the South Downs
Disaster struck, puncture number one. I run tubeless on my MTB, and this was only a small cut in the tyre, but as I haven’t topped up the sealant in about a year it wouldn’t self-fix, so I had to stick in a tube. I got back to QECP, had some chocolate cake, and started to head home… but it wasn’t long before I got that dragging feeling again. With no more spare tubes, and no patches it was time to call the rescue car. Still, not a bad day to sit around appreciating the downs!
This cut the ride short by about 1.5 hours, but still a pretty good 4 hours on the MTB in fantastic weather!
Sunday was the Portsmouth North End Club run. Knowing I’d missed a little training volume on Saturday I decided to stay out after the club run and top it up to 100 miles. The club runs I never really have much of a training aim for, I just ride for fun. Taking my turn on the front, riding hard on the hills but basically fitting in with the group. Below is a little video shot by Peter Mac of the club run doing ‘through and off’ along the Bishops Waltham – Winchester road averaging mid-twenties!
After the club run I did some more steady zone two riding, also briefly meeting up with Emma (my wife), Sophie and Lucy who are training for a Paris – Hayling charity ride this July, and housemate Emily.
I’m hoping for some more solid training this week, with an FTP test at the end of the week, before heading off on holiday for a week of altitude training (aka skiing). After this rest I’ll get in to my last ‘block’ and really focus on the details and logistics, heading out for some 200 km road rides or six hour MTB rides when the weather suits.
for an hour at 4.13 W/kg
Tom's South Downs Double 